365 Amplified

365 Amplified

From Madison365, weekly discussion of the news for and from Wisconsin's communities of color and allies.

Episodes

December 19, 2025 55 mins

This week on 365 Amplified, Rob Chappell, Omar Waheed, and Stephanie Díaz de León dig into Wisconsin's latest school district report cards and ask a hard question: who actually benefits from how schools are graded? The conversation explores racial achievement gaps, how DPI weights "economically disadvantaged" students, ...

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As promised after last week's grammar discussion, Rob talks through the etymology of the word "sincere" and Omar coins a new slang term. All that only after:

  • We get updates on stories we've been following in the Sun Prairie Area School District and the Dane County Department of Human Services.'
  • We look ahead to the CEOs of Tomorrow "Pitch and Launch" event this weekend
  • We note a few local elected officials who announced this w...
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December 5, 2025 33 mins

In this week's episode of 365 Amplified, the team dives into a busy stretch of community events, local politics, sports news, and a thoughtful conversation with the leaders of the Urban League of Greater Madison Young Professionals.

Highlights

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On the podcast today, Rob talks through a few news items before chatting with Rodney Rave, who's running for Congress in Wisconsin's Third Congressional District, which covers most of Western Wisconsin. A former Ho-Chunk Nation legislator, Rave could become the first Indigenous person to represent the state in Washington.

Today's episode is brought to you by Steinhafels.

Support local nonprofit news at Madison365.org/donate. All do...

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Rob's flying solo today, with a few news updates: a new Congressional candidate in western Wisconsin, an effort to support a beloved local musician who collapsed on stage after a heart attack last week, a recap of Madison College's first-ever trip to the national junior college men's soccer tournament, and a review of "Planets as Stars," the poetry-driven performance we previewed on the podcast last week.

Then, he talks to Kynala P...

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November 14, 2025 71 mins

On the podcast today, Rob, Stephanie and Omar talk through some local news, including a summit of Milwaukee social justice nonprofits, a snow removal apprenticeship program and the Madison College soccer team's first-ever trip to the national tournament. Then, poet and performer Gina Cornejo joins the show to preview her new production at Theatre LILA, "Planets as Stars," opening this weekend. Then, we have an update on Channel 300...

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This week, News 3 Now published an erroneous news story about Madison-based nonprofit Urban Triage, and Madison365 was the only outlet to correct the record. On the podcast today, Rob, Nicholas and Omar talk through how that went down and what it means for the larger landscape of journalism and media. Plus, this weekend, Midwest Mujeres is hosting its fifth annual "Yo Quiero Dinero" storytelling event, so founder Araceli Ezparza a...

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October 31, 2025 44 mins

Hosts: Rob Chappell, Stephanie Díaz de León, Omar Waheed
Guest: Prenicia Clifton

 Episode Overview

This week, the team covers the end of SNAP benefits and its impact on Wisconsin families and small business...

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October 24, 2025 53 mins

Hosts: Rob Chappell, Stephanie Díaz de León, and Omar Waheed
Guest: Nate Buescher, UW–Madison freshman and star of Disney Channel's Electric Bloom
Runtime: 53:38

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Rob and Omar kick off this week's 365 Amplified with stories making headlines across Madison365:

  • Hmong New Year 50th Anniversary – A preview of this year's celebration marking 50 years since Hmong families began ar...

Two big stories to discuss on the podcast today: first, editor-in-chief David Dahmer joins the pod to preview the opening of Bernell's, Madison's first sports bar focused on women's sports. (Don't worry, they'll show the Packers too.) Then, Omar has a recap of the Sun Prairie Area School District, where voters passed a no-confidence motion against Superintendent Brad Saron. Finally, after the requisite mentions of Forward Madison a...

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October 3, 2025 40 mins

On this week's 365 Amplified, Omar and Rob talk through a tense Common Council session on a new men's homeless shelter that ended in confrontations between alders and protesters. Then, we go over a change at the University of Wisconsin, where the Office of Human Resources has eliminated its Equity, Inclusion and Employee Wellbeing Department, and what that might mean for the university's faculty and staff.

Then, new Madison College...

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September 26, 2025 77 mins

Today on 365 Amplified, Rob, Omar and Nick give an update on what we know -- and what we still don't know -- about who's been trying to enforce Madison parks rules with unhoused people on Madison's east side. Next, we've learned a lot about some disturbing allegations that led to the arrest of the Sun Prairie West High School Dean of Students on charges of child pornography and exploitation. There's quite a bit we still don't know ...

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In this week's episode of 365 Amplified, hosts Stephanie Díaz de León, Omar Waheed, and Rob Chappell dive into a wide range of local and national stories — from media censorship and free speech battles to community leadership and grassroots democracy — before welcoming a special guest.

Featured Interview: Huma Ahsan

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This week on 365 Amplified, the team dives into national, state, and local news—and sits down with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who has just entered the race for governor of Wisconsin.

Highlights from this episode:

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September 5, 2025 32 mins

On this week's 365 Amplified:

The Dane County Sheriff's Office is ramping up enforcement on school bus safety

Milky Way Tech Hub is giving away laptops

Urban Triage is hosting its Harvest Festival this weekend

and the North Side Festival is coming next weekend

Shaunte McCullum from the Northside Planning Council joins the show with more details on that event.

Plus, what annoys us most, and the trouble with Rob's new percolator.

...

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August 29, 2025 28 mins

On the podcast today, Rob, Nicholas and Omar get an update on the immigrant labor troubles in Monroe, and get a preview of the Wisconsin Badger volleyball season. Then, Joe Maldonado from UW Extension joins to preview the second annual Fathers in Focus confererence, coming up October 18.

Read Omar's update on the Monroe dairy workers strike here.

Read Nicholas's preview of the Badger volleyball season here.

Read Rob's preview of...

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On this week's podcast, Stephanie, Omar and Rob dig into two big stories from this week's news:

  • Workers in Monroe have walked off the job after W&W Dairy's new owners, Kansas City-based Dairy Farmers of America, is forcing employees to reverify documentation status. About 40 workers, most of whom have worked there more than 10 years, are asking for a severance package for those who can't verify. Read Omar's story here.
  • Monona...
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August 15, 2025 30 mins

Art House 360, a multicultural community arts space in Verona, officially opened with a ribbon cutting this week, and will host a fundraiser tonight. So we are revisiting our conversation with cofounders Monica Cliff and AJ Juarez from last month about where the idea and inspiration came from, and what the space hopes to offer the community.

 

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This week, Stephanie, Rob and Omar preview:

Then, Rob reports on the event celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and why organizers say democracy remains under threat.

Next up, the effort to recall a member of the DeForest Board of Trustees has successfully prompted a special election. Alicia Williams, who's running to replace incu...

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